Astronaut Nabbed In Murder Plot

FEBRUARY 6--Here are the Florida police reports detailing the arrest of NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak, who is facing charges that she allegedly plotted the murder of a female rival for the affection of astronaut William Oefelein. Nowak, a 43-year-old mother of three, was arrested early Monday after attempting to attack Colleen Shipman, a 30-year-old Air Force captain, in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport. According to the Orlando Police Department reports, Nowak drove 900 miles from Houston to Florida when she learned that Shipman (whom Nowak believed was 'involved' with the 41-year-old Oefelein) would be arriving there by plane. Nowak, who told cops that she only wanted to speak with Shipman, was wearing a wig and trench coat when she tried to accost Shipman at the airport. After dousing Shipman with pepper spray as she sat in her car, the disguised Nowak fled, but was apprehended at a nearby bus stop. Before her arrest, police reported, Nowak had disposed of her trench coat, wig, and a BB pistol in an airport trash can. A subsequent search of Nowak's auto and handbag turned up other incriminating evidence, including a steel mallet, a new folding knife, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, and handwritten directions to Shipman's house. Nowak was first charged with attempted kidnapping, battery, destruction of evidence, and attempted burglary. Prosecutors added the attempted murder rap today and filed a new charging affidavit detailing the felony charge. When Detective William Becton asked why she needed all the weapons in her possession, Nowak said she only planned to scare Shipman. 'When I mentioned to Mrs. Nowak that I figured she had come to Orlando to kill Ms. Shipman, Mrs. Nowak said that she was never going to hurt Ms. Shipman,' wrote Becton, who noted that Nowak could not provide a 'reasonable explanation' for possessing the weapons. The police reports list the arrestee's 'business & occupation' as 'NASA/Astronaut' and her work address as 'Johnson Space Cnt.' Nowak's Orange County Sheriff's Office mug shot is shown above. (5 pages)